Morning Brief: Monday, June 22, 2015

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Sen. Mobina Jaffer says fight over C-51 is just getting started — Six honoured for helping Cpl. Nathan Cirillo during Parliament Hill shootings — Justin Trudeau confident electoral reform will be election issue, blames low polling on timing, cynicism — Remembering the ‘Forgotten War’ — MacKay ‘conflicted’ by Don Meredith sex allegations — 19 senators caught up in expense scandal opt for arbitration — Alberta hires David Dodge for spending advice — Greece debt crisis: EU leaders step up efforts for deal — Putin wants to sit with the G7 leaders once again — First church service after Charleston shooting includes message of unity — Mitt Romney calls on South Carolina to remove Confederate flag — And finally, how the presidency has made Obama a better father.

Good Monday morning to you — and a belated Happy Father’s Day to all our readers who are dads.

It’s not happy days for Senator Mobina Jaffer. She says she’s never been as frightened as she is now. Those are strong words coming from the woman who was appointed as Canada’s first Muslim senator just one week after 9/11. She “immediately got pushed into these issues” then but she was not as afraid then as she is now. Why? Today, the Anti-Terrorism Bill 2015, known commonly as C-51, is the law of the land. Jaffer, tells our Kristie Smith that the Conservatives have used Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who attacked Parliament Hill last October, to validate excessive and dangerous legislation. And it’s hurting Canada’s reputation internationally. “This was not a terrorist attack, what happened to us. Come on, people are laughing at us around the world. This was some young man who had mental issues. I know his mosque, because I helped build it,” she said.

Out on the hustings, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau will continue to be cornered by the many Canadians who are baffled by his party’s support of C-51. But as he made the TV rounds yesterday, his comments were focused on electoral reform, which after the country’s decade under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, he’s convinced is going to be an election issue this fall. “I think the mood out there across the country is quite unmistakable,” Trudeau told CTV’s Question Period. “What Canadians understand very clearly is that actually changing the way we elect governments and changing the way governments behave leads to a much better quality of decision-making.”

He remains unfazed by the fact the Liberals have been surpassed by the Bloc Quebecois in the polls in Quebec. Over on The West Block with Tom Clark, Trudeau said the slide in numbers can be blamed on the time of year and the cynicism people have about politics right now. “It’s only around Labour Day that people are going to start saying, ‘OK, we’ve got a decision to make in a couple of months about what our future’s going to look like.’”

Veterans gathered at the National War Memorial yesterday to remember the 65th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War and the 62nd anniversary of its armistice agreement. Our Selina Chignall has their story.

As the details of Sen. Don Meredith’s alleged dirty deeds reverberate around Parliament Hill, some aren’t quite sure what to make of it all. Among them? Justice Minister Peter MacKay. He told CTV’s Question Period yesterday that allegations pastor had a sexual relationship with a teenager are “chilling and deeply disturbing.” But he admits he’s conflicted. “Given that this is still an allegation and due process, as minister of justice (and) attorney general, I have to be respectful of that. But certainly, at a personal level, it’s very troubling,” MacKay said.

There’s probably not going to be much in the way of road trips or time at the beach for former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge this summer. He’ll be eyes deep in Alberta’s books now that Premier Rachel Notley has brought him on board to help the province set out a plan for its infrastructure spending for the next four or five years. “We need to get this right,” she said. Dodge will file his suggestions by the fall.

Vladimir Putin has made it known what he wants to make it the G-8 once again. And while he says he doesn’t want to offend anyone, Prime Minister Stephen Harper can essentially like it or lump it. “If the United States says Russia should be returned to the G8, the prime minister will change his opinion,” Putin told The Canadian Press during a meeting with the heads of world news agencies at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.